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Disney Tells University to Retract Release
By Gwendolyn Bradley
The Walt Disney Company demanded in August that the University of Washington retract a news release about a study published by faculty at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that videos marketed to babies, such as “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” videos, are more likely to slow vocabulary acquisition than to assist with it. The researchers found that for every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants between the ages of eight and sixteen months understood an average of six to eight fewer words than babies who didn’t watch the videos. Disney, which owns the Baby Einstein brand, said the news release was “inflammatory” and the study unreliable. A spokesperson complained to the Denver Post that the study and news release had “put an element of doubt in the minds of moms and parents.”
The university stood by the study and news release, noting that the study was published in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal.
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